Top Fitness Gifts Under $25 For Christmas 2015!

It’s Blogmas day 4 at MCP Total Fitness! Christmas is 16 days out, which means…depending on when you open gifts…you might only have 14 days left to get your shopping/ordering on Amazon done! I’m a terrible procrastinator, so my shopping is certainly not complete, but maybe writing this will get me in gear – we’ll see! Let’s take a look at the top fitness gifts you can give this year, and not spend a dime over $25! #winning

Do you have a big time fitness enthusiast in your life? Maybe somebody who’s thinking about getting into fitness for the New Year (see: The Best Workout You Can Do), or somebody who read The Best Workout You Can Do and is getting started on improving their health TODAY? Heck, you could put any of these on your own list. God knows, if you’re in the same place in life as me, you have a bunch of poor friends and/or siblings who would be delighted to see something a little more reasonable on your list. All of these are great for anybody from the beginner, to the long-time gym-goer.

Fitness equipment and accessories can be really expensive – I mean, really expensive. There are a million things to choose from…supplements, shoes, bags, apparel, bands, dumbbells, plates, bars, rings…the list goes on and on. So, if you want to go the fitness route for one of your friends or family members, these things are a great place to start. The investment is small, and the value is immense.

So….without further ado, let’s get into the list! These are really all equally great, so they will appear in no particular order 🙂

10 Top Fitness Gifts Under $25

1. MCP Total Fitness (FREE) – Ok, so these might be in some sort of specific order 😉 I don’t like to toot my own horn….kidding, of course…but referring somebody to check out mcptotalfitness.com would be a pretty great gift, right? Talk about the gift that keeps on giving! My #1 goal is to provide motivation, inspiration, and information to help you, and all of your family friends, along their fitness journey – while having a little fun, too. Great things are coming with my YouTube channel ready to get up and rolling in January 2016, and a podcast not too far down the road either. Don’t keep it a secret – like, comment on, and share any post that you find even remotely valuable – your friends will (hopefully) love the content, and you might just make my day, too 🙂

2. Tabata Timer – I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. This thing is a NEED. Yes, you can download apps on your phone, or use your phone timer, but this is so easy to use, and wastes no time at all. You know if you’re looking at your phone every time you’re timing a rest period you’re going to get distracted. Admit it and get this thing. This is great for HIIT workouts and weight training – I use it every single day to time my work/rest periods in HIIT workouts and tabatas, as well as my rest periods between lifting sets. You’d be shocked and amazed how much time you truly take in between sets when you don’t time it. This is a great gift for your friend who’s easily distracted, somebody who’s complaining about their workouts taking too long, or maybe even for you!

3. Food Scale ($12) – This an affordable, life changing addition to the kitchen. Measuring out your food – at least when you’re getting started on a healthy eating path – is a great way to learn what portion sizes really look like. You’re probably thinking you should be taking way less of everything…but that’s not always the case! I was seriously selling myself short on my proteins, and seriously underestimating how much I was eating of different vegetables. You’re right though, you might want to reel it in a little on the peanut butter, haha. Great gift for somebody really focused on dialing in their nutrition!

4. Workout Buddy Subscription (FREE) – This is a great gift, because everybody wins! If you’re already into fitness, and you have a friend or family member who’s thinking about getting started going to the gym, offer to be their workout buddy! The gym can be a really intimidating place, and there is power in numbers. The support and accountability that comes with having a workout buddy is a great advantage as well. If you’re also a beginner, you probably have at least one friend who you’ve been talking with for-ev-er about going to the gym and finally getting in shape. Be the one who takes the initiative to say, “Alright pal, TODAY IS THE DAY!” Present this however you want – give them a coupon, send them a text, make them sign a contract, etc. etc. The key here is, you must follow through. Don’t let them (or you) give up and skip out on your plan to check out happy hour. Give the gift of accountability and moral support!

5. Bluetooth headphones ($25) – Ok, they’re $25.99…but is there anything more irritating than getting your hand caught in your headphones cord while you’re trying to work out? I’m compelled to argue no. I love my Bluetooth headphones, because they allow for freedom of movement, and I don’t have to think about it. It’s worth the extra dollar, I promise. The ones I own and use every day are a tinge bit pricier ($40), but you can get cheaper ones to start out, just to see how you like them. My guess would be yes, you do.

6. Shaker Cups ($16) – Everybody can use more shaker cups. I know I can. Give the gift of protein shakes and pre-workouts on the go. Even for the person who has everything – you can’t have too many shaker cups!

7. Food/Drink-less Get-Together (FREE, sort of) – If you decide to go with a work out buddy subscription, you’re already half-way there on this idea. Ever notice that the way we hang out with people anymore, is most often centered around food and drinks? To be clear, I’m not knocking happy hour – I love happy hour, and sometimes they are “necessary.” I totally get that. Give this a try though – come up with some type of activity you can do with a friend, or friends, that doesn’t involve food or drinks. Maybe you want to get into hiking/rock climbing, check out a museum, play in a rec sports league, learn how to play the ukulele, get into scrap booking – it could be anything! Of course you can incorporate food and drinks into any activity, but what we’re going for here is giving yourself the opportunity to have an awesome social life, without having to worry about ruining your progress or impeding you – and your friends – from achieving your goals. Try something new!

8. Jump Rope ($17)– Ah, the everywhere workout. I keep a jump rope in my car and in my apartment…so I always have it if I want to get a quick workout in, or something unexpected comes up, like…I get attacked and need to tie up the bad guys? Scary things happen at rest stops – so I try to err on the side of caution. Bottom line, it’s a great cardio workout that you can incorporate into any style of workout – anywhere.

9. Audible Membership ($15) – I just recently started incorporating morning steady state cardio sessions into my routine, and I L-O-V-E it! I don’t have to think at all…I can just zone out and listen to my favorite podcast (Everyday Is Saturday, Sam Crowley – check it out), and it’s amazing. It gets me an extra calorie burn, and also gets me fired up to have an amazing day. Audiobooks are another way to your mindset gains while working on those physical gains, too! Snag an Audible subscription or gift card for your buddy (or yourself) and start getting into some of the motivational/health/wellness books that are out there – I’m listening to You Are a Badass (Jen Sincero) right now…review coming soon! It’s a great way to engage 😉 and work on developing your mindset while getting lean at the same time….or driving, cleaning…whatever you’re doing. Awesome gift that anybody would enjoy!

10. Foam Roller ($9-$25) – This is an awesome tool for recovery, and feels amazing on sore muscles (and kind of hurts sometimes, too). If you get this for somebody, they might not know it now, but they will thank you someday. I use this all the time for rolling my sore legs and butt – I also have a lot of lower back issues that this is really helpful for. If you or someone you know has difficulty with sore muscles, and trouble recovering from intense workouts – give this a try!

So there you have it – 10 awesome gifts you can get for the fitness-lover, or future fitness-lover, in your life…and a few ideas you can put on your own Christmas list! Sometimes getting into fitness can be pricy, but there are a lot of affordable options out there that can make a huge difference in the course of a fitness journey 🙂

Do you have any awesome ideas for affordable fitness-related gifts? What’s the best fitness gift you’ve ever received? Let me know in the comments below! Merry Blogmas!